Development and Validation of the Compensatory Belief Scale for the Internet Instant Gratification Behavior

Objective: The concept of “compensatory belief” pertains to an individual's conviction that the negative consequences of a specific behavior can be counteracted by engaging in a subsequent positive behavior. This study sought to devise a scale tailored to gauge compensatory beliefs concerning internet instant gratification behaviors. Methods: Utilizing the Credamo online questionnaire platform, data were amassed from two distinctive cohorts: organizational employees and college students. A collective 1064 responses were amassed. Results: The newly created Compensatory Belief Scale for Internet Instant Gratification Behavior was bifurcated into two versions: one tailored for employees (CBS-IIGB-E) and the other for college students (CBS-IIGB-S). Through an exploratory factor analysis, two factors were discerned, namely “Compensatory Beliefs for Working/Studying '' and “Compensatory Beliefs for Resting”. A confirmatory factor analysis validated this two-factor model with the following metrics for the employee version: SBχ2 = 54.88, df = 32, CFI = 0.974, TLI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.064, SRMR = 0.047, and for the student version: SBχ2 = 19.26，df = 19，CFI = 0.999，TLI = 0.999，RMSEA = 0.008，SRMR = 0.033. The scores on the Internet Addiction Scale and the Smartphone Addiction Scale showed a positive correlation with the overall scores of the CBS-IIGB-E and the scores of its two factors. Conversely, the scores on the Self-control Scale exhibited a negative correlation with the total scores of the CBS-IIGB-E and the scores of its two factors. The correlation pattern with the criterion scales for the CBS-IIGB-S mirrored that of the CBS-IIGB-E, with the exception that the Self-control Scale only correlated with the two factors and not the overall score of the CBS-IIGB-S. The McDonald's Omega coefficients for the two factors of the CBS-IIGB-E were 0.84 and 0.86 respectively, and those for the CBS-IIGB-S were 0.82 and 0.87 respectively. Both scales demonstrated a test-retest reliability of 0.76. Significant differences in the scale scores across diverse target groups were observed in the simulation game of internet instant gratification behavior, thereby validating the predictive validity of the developed scales. Conclusion: The Compensatory Belief Scale for Internet Instant Gratification Behavior (CBS-IIGB) is a reliable and valid tool for measuring compensatory belief in situations where the allure of immediate internet gratification comes into conflict with long-term objectives, among both organizational employees (CBS-IIGB-E) and college students (CBS-IIGB-S).